Competitive Gaming Merit Badge
Seven requirements, and requirement 3 is the clock: two weeks of tracking gaming, activity and sleep side by side, then a week following a schedule built from them. Three steps need somebody else, and requirement 6 is a choice of three.
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The plan behind this
Requirement 3 is three weeks, so start it first
Requirement 3 asks you to track three things for the same two weeks:
| what you track | what you compare it with | |
|---|---|---|
| 3(b) | how much you game each day | nothing; record and summarize it |
| 3(c) | your daily physical activity | the CDC recommendation for your age |
| 3(d) | your daily sleep | the CDC recommendation for your age |
Then 3(e) begins "After completing 3(b), 3(c), and 3(d)" and asks for a one-week schedule that balances sleep, activity and gaming time you have agreed on, which you then follow and summarize.
That is two weeks of tracking, then one week of living by the schedule: three weeks at the least, and it is the only part of the badge you cannot do in an evening. The other requirements fit around it, so start the tracking in the first week rather than reaching it at number 3.
Three steps need somebody else
- 2(d): demonstrate a way to keep online gaming positive with your troop, patrol or family.
- 4(c): play one of your favorite games with your parent or guardian for at least thirty minutes. Show them the privacy and safety settings, explain what you enjoy about it, and let them play for part of the time.
- 4(d): play a multiplayer game, online or local, with **another Scout, friend or community member**, cooperatively or on a team, casual or competitive. Then review it with your counselor.
Before requirement 2: a video, with permission
Requirement 2 opens with a note: view the Personal Safety Awareness Digital Safety video with your parent or guardian's permission. It carries no letter, but it is printed first.
Requirement 6: do ONE of three
| route | what it needs |
|---|---|
| 6(a) teach online gaming safety or digital citizenship | a troop, patrol, or group of younger Scouts or family members to teach |
| 6(b) view a live-streamed esports event | an internet connection and a scheduled broadcast; notes on presentation, player communication and audience |
| 6(c) attend an esports tournament, convention or community event | an event near you, and another Scout, troop member or family member to go with |
6(c) is the only one that depends on somebody else's calendar. If you want it, look for the event early.
It was a Test Lab badge
Competitive Gaming was trialled in the Merit Badge Test Lab before it became an official merit badge in July 2026. The Test Lab page says a Scout who completed a Test Lab badge that becomes official is credited with having earned it. If you did the Test Lab version, ask your unit leader how that is being recorded before starting again.
There is no pamphlet
The Hub links a Digital Resource Guide instead, and most lettered requirements on the official page list free resources directly under them.
What this page is
The Competitive Gaming merit badge, drawn so the three-week clock in requirement 3 is the first thing a reader sees. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs and which change from year to year.
Sources for this page
- Competitive Gaming Merit Badge Requirements, Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2026-07-22 · The requirements themselves, and the Digital Resource Guide linked from them.
- Merit Badge Test Lab · Credit for Scouts who completed the Test Lab version before the badge became official.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.0.3 · The process every merit badge is earned through, which this page does not repeat.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.4.3 · Which version of a changed requirement applies to a Scout who has already started.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 4.0.0.1 · Why the requirements are not in the Guide to Advancement and are expected to change annually.
Last checked against its sources on .